Roots Music Rambler

The Ghost of Paul Revere announced its breakup in April of 2022 and fans of the Maine-based folk trio were heartbroken. The band said it had become more difficult to make records and tour while maintaining their friendship and the latter was more important.

But 2024 brought about two rays of sunshine in the world of Ghost fans: The band has released a 10th anniversary, 180-gram vinyl reissue of its most successful release, Believe. And lead singer and primary songwriter Griffin William Sherry is back with a new album and tour. He told us the sound difference in his new solo work and what fans loved with Ghost isn’t that different.

He also said, “Never say never,” to the question of a reunion of the original band.

Sherry not only sat in with Frank and Falls on Roots Music Rambler this week, but became the first artist to play “live” during the show recording. He performed a solo acoustic rendition of his song “Juliet” from his new album Hundred Mile Wilderness.   

Falls shares the latest purchase to accompany his growing record collection. Frank and Falls also talk about free concert series at several communities around the country where you can sometimes catch great Americana acts for free. Falls also calls on our listeners to let us know of free concert series where great acts often play. We’re curating a list. 

The hosts also offer up their picks for new music for you to discover this week in the Pickin’ the Grinnin’ segment of the show.

Don’t forget you can now show your support of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available. 

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links:

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations

And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts.

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Brandon Good’s early days in music were in the Mennonite Church. Later, in a Celtic punk band. Nowadays, the Chicago-based singer-songwriter is expressing his love for harmonies and melodies through more country and folk, singer-songwriter type tunes while unifying several genres into an interesting blend of tunes.

Good joined Frank and Falls on Roots Music Rambler this week to talk about his previous work in albums like The Anvil, which he called a “heavy” album of introspection and emotion. But he also teased out some new music coming this fall with a new LP on the horizon. He says the new work will be more lighthearted and humorous than before. 

Our conversation also touched on the impact of location on songwriting, with Brandon sharing his experience of living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He talks about the solitude and reflection that the location provided, allowing him to make conscious choices and revelations in his music.

Frank and Falls also discuss whether or not music festivals are getting too big, individually, and too big, in terms of the sheer number from which to choose. And they offer up their picks for new music for you to discover this week in the Pickin’ the Grinnin’ segment of the show.

Don’t forget you can now show your support of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available. 

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links:

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations

And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts.

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In March of this year, Kimmi Bitter came out of nowhere to land on top of the Alt Country music charts with her first full-length album Old School, a collection of songs that if you didn’t know better, you’d swear were from Patsy Cline and the Jordanaires. That record spent four weeks at No. 1 and vaulted Bitter into the conversations for Americana newcomer of the year.

Bitter joined Roots Music Rambler to talk about the explosion of her record, the opportunities it has opened up and what the future of her music and sound might be. We also dug into where her love of 60s country comes from and how she’s crafted a strong brand to go with the great music. 

Also on the show, Frank and Falls talk about recent music experiences at the American Music Festival at Fitzgerald’s in Chicago (Frank) and Roostertail Music Festival (Falls), and debate whether or not audio books qualify as reading. They also share their Pickin’ & Grinnin’ picks of the week as recommendations of new music for you to enjoy. 

Don’t forget you can now show your support of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available. 

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links:

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations

And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts.

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Larry and Cheryl Webster may not be big recording artists or the kind of musicians that sell-out arenas around the world, but they are as important to the music industry and community as anyone that has ever come out of Eastern Kentucky. Their network of contacts and influence put them in the role of linchpin for many mountain and bluegrass musicians through the now six decades the couple has been playing, writing, performing and booking music.

It just so happens they were the couple whose Friday night pickin’ and grinnin’ sessions gave one of our hosts, Jason Falls, his roots in loving roots music. So he ventured home to Pike County, Ky., and invited himself into their kitchen for a chat. 

Larry and Cheryl headed up The Mule Band, a traditional folk, mountain and bluegrass group, for years. It has served as the house band, if you will, for Pikeville, Ky.’s annual spring festival called Hillbilly Days, on and off since the late 1970s. Larry would invite promising mountain and bluegrass artists to play the event which became quite an honor for musicians from the genres. 

Larry is also a prolific folk and mountain music songwriter with credits on recordings by The Local Honeys, Guy Carawan and Nate Polly among others. 

Cheryl is known for her ability to harmonize and comes from an extensive family of musical talent including her cousin Darrell Scott. She tells the story of how his song “You’ll never leave Harlan alive” is about their great grandparents. The song had new life injected into its popularity when original recording artist Patty Loveless along with Chris Stapleton performed it at the 2022 CMA Awards.

The Websters are also the grandparents of promising fiddle player Ella Webster, the current touring player in Cole Chaney’s band.    

In a bonus segment, Frank and Falls share a clip from an interview with author Amy Bizzarri, whose latest book The Best Hits on the Blues Highway: Nashville to New Orleans on Route 61 is fantastic. 

Frank and Falls also talk about their daughter’s recent music activity including Lollapalooza 2024, and the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts. And shared new music for your listening pleasure in the Pickin’ the Grinnin’ segment after the interview.

Don’t forget you can now show your support of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available. 

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links:

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations

And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts.

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Aaron Perlut learned to play the guitar at age 47. That was just six years ago. Now, he’s the front man for Atomic Junction, which dropped its first full-length LP earlier this summer. The St. Louis-based band’s sound is not unlike many of its midwestern kin: A little country, a little punk, a little rock. And a lot interesting

Perlut joined Frank and Falls on the latest episode of Roots Music Rambler to talk about the midlife start to his musical journey, recording the band’s first album, their influences and more. The conversation was slightly different than others we have on the show. Falls and Perlut have been friends for two decades and even once worked together at Perlut’s marketing agency, Elasticity. 

Falls claims to have known nothing about Perlut’s musical focus until recently. 

Frank and Falls also share their much anticipated experience seeing Tyler Childers together as the Mule Pull Tour stopped in Chicago. They discuss Shooter Jennings’ big Father’s Day announcement that new Waylon Jennings recordings are coming in 2025. And, of course, they share their Pickin’ the Grinnin’ recommendations for music  you should check out.

Don’t forget you can now show your support of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available. 

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links:

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations

And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts.

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Believe it or not, Rhiannon Giddens isn’t the only black banjo player turning heads in Americana Music. Kaia Kater’s first album in six years is out and the likes of Rolling Stone, No Depression and more are giving it glowing marks. 

She’s not just turning out a unique sound and a very different take on how the banjo plays into new music, but Kater is also chiming in on representation of people of color in bluegrass, country and Americana music. This week on Roots Music Rambler, hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) dig in with her to talk about that, her background growing up in Canada, the culture shock of going to college in West Virginia and collaborating with the likes of Allison Russell, Aoiefe O’Donovan and Taj Mahal on her new record and a lot more. 

Falls also shares his experience at Railbird Festival in Lexington, Ky., in June, which included a new worship-like status of Marcus King. They also discuss the list of top 12 all-time grossing live music acts and the lack of intimacy in stadium shows. 

Plus, as always, Frank and Falls share their Pickin’ the Grinnin’ recommendations for music  you should check out.

Don’t forget you can now show your support of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available. 

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links:

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations

And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts.

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When you think of music from New Jersey, you typically think of Bruce Springsteen. Or perhaps Bon Jovi. But most people don’t immediately see folk music come to mind. Jackson Pines may not be trying to change that, but they’re certainly doing their best to make New Jersey folk a more widely known and understood subset of the Garden State’s musical DNA.

This week on Roots Music Rambler, hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) caught up with the two founders of Jackson Pines, Joe Makoviecki and James Black to get a history lesson on New Jersey folk, talk about the latest music from the group and hear stories from their travels.

The band has even played on stage with Pete Seeger, giving them full-on folk credentials.

Makoviecki turned out to be sort of a New Jersey folk historian – not unexpected from a teacher’s son – so this episode wound up being one of the more educational we’ve ever had. 

Falls also asks why vinyl record collectors get upset about people using the term “vinyl” as a noun. So for all the hall monitors out there, this part will piss you off. 

Falls also tells his Ron White-like story of being “thrown out of a bar in New York City,” and, of course, Frank and Falls share their pickin’ the grinnin’ choices for good music for you to check out this week.

Don’t forget you can now show your support of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available. 

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links:

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations

And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts.

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Roots Music Rambler, hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) are joined by country music singer and songwriter Rachel Brooke. Her new single is out and she is touring the U.S. this summer to drum up anticipation for an EP later this year and perhaps a new full album in 2025. 

She sat in with Frank and Falls to share her journey from being a teenage punk band drummer to crooning country songs in honky tonks around the midwest. She also discussed her music and writing, the layoff from touring and recording brought about my motherhood and much more.

Frank and Falls also talk about being locked in a hotel room … twice. (And yes, we said locked “in”!) Falls shares his experience seeing Joy Oladokun, Gary Clark Jr., and others at the inaugural I Made Rock and Roll festival in Indianapolis. 

Don’t forget you can now show your support of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available. 

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links:

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations

And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts.

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Roots Music Rambler, hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) visit with Texas-based country artist Bri Bagwell. She has strung together 12 No. 1 hits on the Texas Country Music Charts and is a nine-time winner of that organization’s Female Artist of the Year. She’s well on her way to becoming the next big thing in country music and she sat in with us for a chat.

Bagwell’s latest album, Corazon Y Cabeza, features a song climbing those charts this summer called The Rescue. It’s about her dog Whiskey, a rescue she found on the side of the road several years ago, who incidentally sat in Bri’s lap during the interview. 

Bagwell is also a successful podcaster as host of Only Vans, a music interview show where Bri interviews her fellow artists in the front of her touring van as she travels across the country playing gigs. Hear several of her songs and all about her climb to the country music mountain tops on this week’s episode. 

Francesca and Falls also talk about 80s hair bands, the 25th anniversary of Old Crow Medicine Show, which played a private show Falls attended recently. And as usual, Frank and Falls offer up their weekly recommendations for new music to listen to in their Pickin’ the Grinnin’ segment. 

Don’t forget you can now show your support of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available. 

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links:

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations

And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts.

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Roots Music Rambler, hosts Francesca Folinazzo (Frank) and Jason Falls (Falls) are joined by emerging Americana singer-songwriter Leon Majcen (pronounced MITE-zen). The Florida-based songwriter brings a mix of John Prine and Townes Van Zandt lyrics with a Jimmy Buffet, Gulf Coast vibe that is sure to appeal to a lot of music fans.

Majcen came to our attention opening for Sundy Best in Louisville in February. Falls then saw him at the Monarch Music Space in Louisville in May. His self-titled new album launched in late May and is well worth the listen, if not purchase. Majcen has an interesting backstory, too. He is the son of Bosnian immigrants who fled that country during its war in the mid 1990s.

Frank and Falls also pay tribute to their music teachers in their childhoods, and as usual, offer up their weekly recommendations for new music to listen to in their Pickin’ the Grinnin’ segment. 

Don’t forget you can now show your support of the show with Roots Music Rambler’s new merch, now available at rootsmusicrambler.com/store. Authentic t-shirts, hats and stickers are now available. 

Buckle up for The Hoe-Down and the Throw-Down! It’s a new episode of Roots Music Rambler.

Notes and links:

Pickin’ the Grinnin’ Recommendations

And be sure to get your MuskOx premium flannel shirts just in time for fall. Use the code RAMBLER on checkout for a discount! - https://gomuskox.com/rambler

Subscribe to Roots Music Rambler on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, GoodPods or wherever you get your podcasts.

Theme Music: Sheepskin & Beeswax by Genticorum

Find more at rootsmusicrambler.com and join our Backstage Pass Community on Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.